Green Seas and Small Boats

 


As some of you will know, I started to write a book on Eagle Island several years ago. Many people gave generously of their time to help me and the book was to all intents and purposes, finished by the autumn of 2023. 
That was the fun bit. 
I hawked it around the usual publishers. Those who answered all agreed it was 'far too long.' So, no bother, I decided to self-publish. I got quite a shock, it being several years since the publishing of When the Light Goes Out to realise just how much printing and postage costs had risen in the intervening years. Nobody was going to buy a book by an amateur for the €30+ it would cost me to print it. Unless I pared it down.
I started to do this, losing many of the beautiful photos I had been sent, losing whole chapters from shipwrecks to butterflies, but it was a hard slog as the formatting of the whole book changes every time you change a Word doc. In addition, I felt the book was becoming emasculated, just like the lighthouse of the subject.
A couple of weeks ago, with this project weighing on my shoulders, I decided to go ahead and make the pdf of the longer version available to anybody interested. That way, the history of the light will be available to anybody interested and I can move on to other projects. It has been a labour of love and I enjoyed every minute of writing and researching it. 
The pdf basically charts the history of Eagle Island from the 1830s to the present day. Be warned, though, its 139,000 words long! Doubtless I have made errors and I apologise!
Anybody who would like a copy, please mail me on gouldingpeter@gmail.com and I'll send it on, free of charge, probably via Google Drive. Feel free to share with anyone who might not see this.



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